Silicon Oxide-Encapsulated Platinum Thin Films as Highly Active

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Silicon Oxide-Encapsulated Platinum Thin Films as Highly Active Electrocatalysts for Carbon Monoxide and Methanol Oxidation Jacob Robinson, Natalie Yumiko Labrador, Han Chen, Benjamin Edward Sartor, and Daniel Esposito ACS Catal., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.8b03626 • Publication Date (Web): 24 Oct 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on October 24, 2018

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Silicon Oxide-Encapsulated Platinum Thin Films as Highly Active Electrocatalysts for Carbon Monoxide and Methanol Oxidation

Jacob E. Robinson,† Natalie Y. Labrador,† Han Chen, B. Edward Sartor, Daniel V. Esposito*

Department of Chemical Engineering Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy Columbia University in the City of New York 500 W. 120th St., New York, NY 10027



both authors contributed equally

*Corresponding author [email protected] 212-854-2648

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Abstract Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have the potential to provide high power densities for transportation and portable applications. However, widespread use of DAFCs is greatly hindered by the lack of anode electrocatalysts that are inexpensive, stable, resistant to CO poisoning, and highly active towards alcohol oxidation. One promising approach to overcoming these challenges is to combine transition metal catalysts with oxide supports, such as SiO 2 , which are known to enhance alcohol oxidation by promoting CO oxidation at metal/oxide interfacial regions through the so-called bifunctional mechanism. Herein, we report on a membrane coated electrocatalyst (MCEC) architecture for alcohol oxidation, in which a thin, permeable silicon oxide (SiO x ) nanomembrane encapsulates a well-defined Pt thin film (SiO x |Pt). A key advantage of the MCEC design compared to oxide–supported nanoparticles is that the oxide encapsulation maximizes the density of metal/oxide interfacial sites between the SiO x and Pt catalyst. A series of electroanalytical measurements indicate that the SiO x overlayers provide proximal hydroxyls, in the form of silanol groups, which can enhance alcohol oxidation by interacting with adsorbed intermediates at Pt|SiO x interfaces. Thanks to these interactions, the SiO x |Pt electrocatalysts exhibit significantly enhanced CO oxidation activity and roughly a two-fold increase in the maximum methanol oxidation current density compared to bare Pt. Overall, these demonstrations highlight the potential of using SiO x -based MCECs for CO tolerant and highly active methanol oxidation electrocatalysts.

Keywords: electrocatalysis, confined catalysis, carbon monoxide oxidation, methanol oxidation, membrane-coated electrocatalyst, bifunctional mechanism, overlayers, silicon dioxide.

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1. Introduction Small alcohol fuels, such as methanol and ethanol, are attractive energy carriers for a sustainable energy future because of their high energy densities, ease of storage as liquids, and the ability to produce them electrochemically from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water (H 2 O) using electricity from renewable resources.1–4 These alcohol fuels can be converted back into electricity for various applications using direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs), where alcohol oxidation at the anode is coupled with the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode.5,6 Despite recent advances in the performance of DAFCs,5 their power densities (≈0.01−10 W cm-2) are still significantly lower than hydrogen fuel cells (HFCs), which typically achieve power densities of ≈10−100 W cm-2.7 Major reasons for the performance gap between DAFCs and HFCs are voltage losses that originate from (i) fuel cross-over to the cathode, and (ii) sluggish reaction kinetics associated with alcohol oxidation at the DAFC anode.8,9 The state-of-the-art anode catalysts in acidic medium are based on nanoparticles of platinum (Pt) or Pt alloys that are supported on high surface area carbon (Pt/C).10–12 The performance of DAFC anodes can also suffer from degradation of the electrocatalyst and carbon support, which can lead to dissolution, detachment, migration, and/or agglomeration of the catalytic nanoparticles.13–15 In order to reduce kinetic overpotential losses associated with the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), significant research efforts have been made to better understand the mechanisms that underlie these reactions. It is now well understood that the MOR and EOR are complex multistep reactions that require catalytic sites for alcohol adsorption and dehydrogenation, as well as sites that facilitate oxidation of carbonaceous intermediates to the desired end product, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ).2,16–20 Many studies have highlighted the importance of efficiently oxidizing carbon monoxide (CO), a commonly observed

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intermediate in alcohol oxidation that can “poison” active sites that bind CO too strongly.5,21 Others have found that CO oxidation is more favorable when oxygen-containing co-reactants such as adsorbed hydroxyl groups (OH ad ) are located in close proximity to the adsorbed CO.22–24 The two most common methods to introduce oxygen-containing species near active sites, and thereby improve CO tolerance, are (i) to alloy Pt-based catalysts with a second metal that has a higher affinity for oxygen (more oxophilic), such as ruthenium (Ru)25,26 or tin (Sn),27,28 and (ii) to support metal nanoparticles on metal oxide supports that contain hydroxyl groups.28–36 The enhanced electrocatalytic activity of Pt electrocatalysts to the MOR and EOR by these two modifications is attributed to the so-called bifunctional mechanism whereby metallic Pt provides sites to initially adsorb and dehydrogenate the alcohol while the oxophilic material supplies oxygen-containing species that subsequently oxidize the adsorbed carbonaceous intermediates to CO 2 .37 Alloying Pt with Ru or Sn has proven to be effective for alleviating CO poisoning issues,25–28 but it does not address the issue of carbon support oxidation. As a result, oxide materials have attracted considerable attention as supports for alcohol oxidation electrocatalysts due to their: (i) higher corrosion resistance than carbon (ii) abundance of hydroxyl groups to facilitate CO removal, and (iii) their potential to suppress catalyst particle migration thanks to partial encapsulation and/or stronger bonding between the oxide material and the metal nanoparticles.38–41 In particular, metal oxide supports, such as CeO 2 ,42,43 MgO,44 WO 3 ,45 SnO 2 ,28 and TiO 2 ,30–32 have demonstrated enhanced electrocatalytic MOR and EOR when paired with Pt nanoparticles. Motivated by prior studies on metal oxide supports for alcohol oxidation, the current paper investigates oxide|metal electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation that are composites of silicon oxide (SiO x ) and Pt. Similar to many other oxides supports, SiO x contains hydroxyl groups, in the form of silanols (Si-OH),46–48 which have been shown to promote CO oxidation on Pt

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electrocatalysts. Additionally, silica (SiO 2 ) is known to have excellent chemical stability in acidic and neutral pHs.49 Many studies have demonstrated improved MOR activity and stability with SiO 2 supported Pt catalysts, with most suggesting that silanol groups suppress CO poisoning and thereby enhance MOR activity through the bifunctional mechanism.50–54 Pt|SiO 2 catalysts have also shown enhanced EOR activity compared to Pt/graphite.55 Despite the promising reports of high alcohol oxidation activity with Pt/oxide composite electrocatalysts, two common concerns are the lower surface areas and electrical conductivities of oxides such as silica compared to conventional carbon supports.54 Consequently, studies that involve oxide supports typically require intricate modifications to improve their low electrical conductivity and surface area. To improve the electrical conductivity, TiO 2 is commonly doped with Nb,56,57 C,58 or N.59 For SiO 2 supports, unique architectures have been employed to increase conductivity and surface area such as incorporating Pt/silica into mesoporous conductive carbon supports60 and functionalizing hollow SiO 2 spheres with amino acids to help anchor Pt onto SiO 2 and SiO 2 onto conductive supports.54 Although these approaches can effectively improve CO tolerance, they often require complex, high temperature synthesis methods to produce the precise composition, structure, and loading. Moreover, methods that involve high temperature treatment could ultimately decrease specific surface area of the support and catalyst. In order to compensate for the low surface areas of oxide supports and minimize catalyst loading, researchers have also tried to minimize catalyst nanoparticle size, albeit at the expense of accelerated dissolution of the smaller nanoparticles.61,62 If smaller (< 5 nm) Pt nanoparticles could be stabilized on oxide supports, Chao-Cheng et. al suggested that they could better take advantage of the bifunctional mechanism compared to larger particles because a higher percentage of the Pt sites would be located in close proximity to the hydroxyl-containing oxide support.62 Extending

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this logic further, we hypothesize that the most active alcohol oxidation electrocatalyst are those that are designed to maximize the number of active sites for alcohol adsorption/dehydrogenation that are in close proximity to hydroxyl sites for CO oxidation. Towards this end, we explore SiO x |Pt alcohol oxidation electrocatalysts based on the membrane-coated electrocatalyst (MCEC) architecture,63 in which the active metal electrocatalyst (Pt) is encapsulated by an ultrathin (0.85 V vs. RHE),86,102 SiO x |Pt is still able to achieve high MOR currents at moderate oxidation potentials (Figure 5b), which suggests hydroxyls are readily available at lower oxidation potentials for the bifunctional mechanism. The silanol groups on SiO x that are present in acidic environments46–48 may serve as an abundant source of hydroxyls that are in close proximity to PtCO ad at the Pt|SiO x interface. We also hypothesize that the SiO x may change the Pt oxophilicity to make Pt-OH formation more energetically favorable at lower overpotentials, as suggested by the negative shift in the onset potential of Pt oxidation with increasing SiO x thickness. This trend in the Pt oxidation onset potential may be related to the negative shift in the CO oxidation onset potentials for the 2 nm and 5 nm SiO x |Pt samples (0.70 V to 0.60 V vs. RHE respectively). However, it must also be noted that the onset for CO oxidation for the 5 nm SiO x |Pt occurs 200300 mV more negative than the onset of Pt-oxidation features, meaning that it is unlikely Pt-OH alone can explain the enhanced CO oxidation activity more negative than 0.8 V vs. RHE.

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Hydroxyl species formed on Pt surfaces can enhance the MOR by promoting the bifunctional mechanism, as suggested by the initiation of MOR activity only after Pt oxide (PtOH ad and PtO x ) formation (Figure 5a). Additional insights into the role of Pt-OH species can be obtained by analyzing the ratio of the peak current densities during methanol oxidation CVs (If /I b ), as mentioned in section 3.3. In studies on PtRu MOR electrocatalysts, a high I f /I b ratio greater than 1 is commonly associated with a catalyst that is oxophilic.25,38 A study focused on the origin of the low I b concluded that the propensity for PtRu catalysts to more easily form oxygenated species during CV excursions to the positive scan vertex inhibits the MOR during the negative (backward) scan segment because the high OH ad and oxide coverage blocks catalytic sites and thereby lowers I b .89 In other words, hydroxyls are necessary for the promotion of MOR, but excessive OH ad and/or oxide coverage on catalytic sites hinders further MOR due to the low abundance of metallic active sites. As a result, electrocatalysts that are more oxophilic tend to achieve high MOR activity in the positive (forward) scan, I f , but lower MOR activity in the negative (backward) scan, Ib . This is why PtRu catalysts often have high I f /I b , especially compared to Pt. By contrast, SiO x |Pt electrodes showed higher I f and lower I f /I b than Pt in Figure 3 (I f /I b of

1.0 and 1.4 respectively). Extending the interpretation of the role of PtRu oxophilicity on MOR

kinetics to SiO x |Pt electrocatalysts, the low I f /I b for SiO x |Pt electrodes suggests these electrodes are less oxophilic than bare Pt. However, this statement seems to contradict the observations of more facile Pt-OH ad /PtO x formation for 5 nm SiO x |Pt in the CV curves in the 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 supporting electrolyte (Figure 2). The different relationships between metal oxophilicity and MOR I f /I b peak ratios for SiO x |Pt electrocatalysts compared to PtRu electrocatalysts suggests that metal oxophilicity plays different roles in promoting MOR in these two types of electrocatalysts. Despite the higher

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oxophilicity, the high I b suggests that the SiO x |Pt electrodes have a relatively moderate coverage of Pt-OH ad species during the backward scan that is conducive to higher MOR currents. Furthermore, the onset of Ib has been shown to coincide with the reduction of Pt-OH ad and PtO x .91 Consistent with these observations, this study on SiO x |Pt electrocatalysts suggests that oxophilic electrocatalysts may still exhibit high I f and I b so long as the kinetics of Pt-OH and PtO x reduction are fast enough to reactivate enough active sites for methanol decomposition during the backward scan. In other words, the I f /I b ratio correlates strongly with the ability of the metallic catalyst to regenerate hydroxyl species and/or metallic Pt sites, which can be referred to as a reactivation efficiency. Following this logic, the SiO x |Pt catalysts are oxophilic but also have a relatively high reactivation efficiency compared to bare Pt. We hypothesize that the high oxophilicity and reactivation efficiency of the SiO x |Pt catalysts is due to hydroxyls from Si-OH that are not actually adsorbed onto the Pt surface, but only share a proximity. Such proximal hydroxyls would not block Pt sites from methanol decomposition, but instead would still be available to facilitate oxidation of CO intermediates through the bifunctional mechanism. Furthermore, proximal hydroxyls provided by Si-OH would allow for all of the Pt sites to be utilized for methanol decomposition, as opposed to conventional Pt electrocatalysts, where some fraction of the Pt surface must be occupied by Pt-OH ad (or RuOH ad in the case of PtRu alloy). This difference in available catalytic Pt sites may help explain the twofold increase in methanol oxidation current of SiO x |Pt compared to Pt (Figure 4). Accordingly, the bifunctional mechanism is expected to proceed predominantly through silanol-mediated CO removal (Equation 5) rather than CO oxidation by Pt-OH ad (Equation 6). Therefore, the change in Pt oxophilicity observed for 5 nm SiO x |Pt (Figure 2) may be a secondary effect of SiO x encapsulation that does not play a key role in determining MOR activity.

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To better understand the role of SiO x overlayers in facilitating the electrocatalytic properties of the SiO x |Pt thin films, CO and methanol oxidation experiments were performed in a pH 7 sodium phosphate buffer solution in which silanol groups may become deprotonated. Silica is known to have two different types of silanol groups, each with a different pKa.46–48,103 Silanol groups form when the solution pH is below the pKa of Si-OH (pKa 1 ≈4 and pKa 2 ≈9).46,47 Figure 7a shows CO stripping CVs for the bare Pt and 5 nm SiO x |Pt at pH 7, for which the low-pKa

silanol groups should be deprotonated. Both electrodes exhibit multiple CO oxidation peaks with similar onset potentials (0.40 V and 0.54 V vs. RHE) that are shifted more negative than in acidic media (Figure 3). These features and differences between acidic and neutral pH are consistent with CO oxidation on multifaceted Pt in alkaline electrolytes.104,105 Importantly, the CO stripping curves are nearly identical for the SiO x |Pt and Pt electrodes. If SiO x |Pt were more active for CO oxidation than bare Pt in neutral pH, we would expect to observe a higher fraction of CO oxidation charge (i.e. a larger peak) at lower overpotentials.105,106 In Figure 7a, the extent of CO oxidation at lower overpotentials (< 0.6 V vs. RHE) is nearly equivalent for both the SiO x |Pt and Pt electrodes, indicating that the CO oxidation activity is similar for both electrocatalysts. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that silanol groups on the SiO x overlayer boost CO oxidation activity, although differences in the structure of adsorbed CO layers in acidic and pH neutral environments may also be important factors in explaining why the CO oxidation curves converge. Despite showing nearly identical CO stripping behavior as bare Pt in the pH neutral electrolyte, the SiO x |Pt electrode still displayed significantly larger methanol oxidation activity in CV measurements conducted in the same pH=7 supporting electrolyte (Figure 7b). It should also be noted that the ratio of peak MOR currents, I f /I b , increased for both electrodes compared to those seen in the acidic electrolyte, from 1.4 to 2.3 for bare Pt and 1.0 to 2.5 for 5 nm SiO x |Pt, consistent

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with observations of methanol oxidation in more alkaline media.107–109 The observed increase in I f /I b for SiO x |Pt in neutral pH to a value that is similar to that for silanol-free bare Pt lends further support to the hypothesis that proximal silanols were responsible for the low If /Ib ratio for SiO x |Pt in the acidic electrolyte. However, it does not explain why the supposedly silanol-stripped SiO x |Pt electrodes still maintain a higher MOR activity than bare Pt at neutral pH. One explanation is local acidification at the buried SiO x |Pt interface, which might arise from suppressed diffusion of protons back to the bulk electrolyte that were generated by the MOR (Equation 1). Local acidification could help to keep silanol groups protonated even though the pH of the bulk electrolyte is above the silanol pKa 1 . It is also possible that silanol groups associated with pKa 2 of SiO 2 , which are still protonated at pH=7, are still able participate in the MOR at more positive potentials, even though they do not appear to influence CO oxidation at less positive potentials (Figure 7a). However, the enhanced MOR current for SiO x |Pt compared to bare Pt at the neutral pH might also result from the aforementioned “indirect” mechanisms by which the SiO x overlayer can alter reaction energetics without directly being involved as an active site. Although this study was not able to fully deconvolute the influences of the SiO x overlayer on methanol oxidation, we expect that in situ spectroscopies and computational tools will be of great value in future studies aimed at a deeper molecular understanding of electrocatalysis at buried interfaces. b)

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Figure 7. a) CO stripping and b) methanol oxidation CVs (cycle 30) in pH neutral electrolyte, 0.1 M sodium sulfate (buffered), with 0.5 M methanol for (b), for bare Pt (black) and 5 nm SiO x |Pt (green) electrodes at a scan rate of 100 mV s-1.

5. Conclusions The planar MCEC architecture investigated in this work provided a well-defined platform to investigate the unique electrocatalytic properties of the oxide-encapsulated metal electrocatalyst. In this study, we examined the effect of 2-5 nm thick SiO x overlayers on Pt catalyst films for alcohol oxidation in acidic media. These SiO x MCECs demonstrated lower CO oxidation onset potentials during CO stripping voltammetry than Pt in an acidic supporting electrolyte. The increased CO tolerance is likely due to the ability of silanol groups on SiO x to promote oxidation of adsorbed CO on Pt. Furthermore, the SiO x |Pt MCECs exhibit a twofold increase in the maximum peak current densities for alcohol oxidation compared to Pt. The enhanced performance towards alcohol oxidation, in acidic electrolyte, is largely attributed to the interactions between proximal hydroxyls from silanol groups and adsorbed intermediates on Pt. These interfacial regions are maximized with the MCEC design, such that an abundance of hydroxyl groups are readily provided at Pt|SiO x interfaces where they can accelerate alcohol oxidation by the bifunctional mechanism. Varied CV vertex potential and pH measurements suggest that silanol groups, which are present at all relevant potentials in acidic pH, are active participants in CO and methanol oxidation. Although the MOR activity of SiO x |Pt electrodes decreases during long-time cycling, this study demonstrates the MCEC design is promising approach for CO tolerant and highly active alcohol oxidation electrocatalysts. Associated Content Supporting Information The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 27 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

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AFM and XPS characterization of SiO x films, CO stripping on UV ozone treated Pt, methanol oxidation chronoamperometry, CV in methanol and perchloric acid, CV behavior for varied CV upper vertex potentials, methanol oxidation on etched electrodes, and AFM and XPS characterization of SiO x |Pt electrodes post methanol CV measurements (PDF). Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge Xiangye Liu for helpful discussions and suggestions, and the Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI) staff for assistance with deposition and characterization tools. DVE, JER, and NYL acknowledge financial support from Columbia University start-up funds, Société de Chimie Industrielle (2017 Seifi Ghasemi/Air Products Scholarship), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) (CBET-1752340). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. References (1)

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Figure 4. Cyclic voltammetry curves measured in 0.5 M CH3OH at a scan rate of 100 mV s-1 for bare Pt (black), 2 nm SiOx|Pt (blue), and 5 nm SiOx|Pt (green) in deaerated 0.5 M H2SO4 supporting electrolyte. 55x41mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 5. Methanol oxidation CVs (steady state cycle 15) with different upper scan vertices for a) tSiOx = 0 nm and b) tSiOx = 5 nm SiOx|Pt MCEC. c) Peak MOR current densities recorded during the forward (If) and backward (Ib) scan segments as a function of upper vertex potential. CVs were performed in 0.5 M H2SO4 containing 0.5 M CH3OH and measured at 100 mV s-1. 41x11mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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1 1.5 2 3 1.0 4 0.5 5 6 0.0 7 8 -0.5 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 9 10 Potential / V vs. RHE b)11 2.5 12 Cycle 13 2.0 14 1 10 15 1.5 50 16 100 1.0 17 18 0.5 19 20 0.0 21 ACS Paragon Plus Environment 22 -0.5 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 23 24 Potential / V vs. RHE

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0.15 1 0.00 2 0.10 0.64 V 3 -0.05 0.68 V 0.56 V 4 0.05 5 nm 0.50 V 5 6 0.00 pH 7 7 8 -0.05 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 9 10 Potential / V vs. RHE b)11 3.0 12 tSiOx 13 2.5 0 nm 14 2.0 15 5 nm 16 1.5 17 1.0 18 19 0.5 20 pH 7 21 0.0 ACS Paragon Plus Environment 22 -0.5 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 23 24 Potential / V vs. RHE

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